The summer is over and the autumn is now well underway. The trees are on the turn and I've started to feed the birds again today. I put out the seed feeder and I've got a squirrel proof peanut feeder but It's still at home!
The last few days have been quite sunny and there are still a few of the smaller creatures around. Yesterday I saw two Speckled Wood butterflies and a brown dragonfly. I don't know which species though.
I can't believe I've not posted since April!! The summer has gone by really quickly.
There has been a lot of activity in the garden. We have had a pair of Robin nesting in the ivy that hangs over one of the fences. I watched the parents going in and out of the nest during several lunch breaks and finally, when the youngsters fledged, they made it safely to the undergrowth around the bed of nettles.
Things are hotting up in the garden - naturewise. When I put out the food at lunchtime, the birds are already lining up in the apple trees. The Nuthatches have appeared every day this week- they had only been visiting every couple of days. I think the Robins have had their noses (beaks?) put out of joint a bit. They have been guarding their feeding station from the Blue Tits and Great Tits but since the Nuthatches have been around on a regular basis, they give way to them when they come to the tables.
I've not posted for a while so I will get you all up to date.....
The recent warm weather has been playing havoc with the Ladybirds who have been hibernating between the double glazing in my office window. I've refrained from putting them outside and hope there are some left to release in the Spring.
The recent cold weather has caused a few scuffles on the bird table. There are at least 2 Robin who insist on defending the food store from everyone else. However, whilst they are squabbling, the Blue Tit and Great Tit manage to sneak in.
I've updated the Wildlife ID Chart to include the new bird species seen. Click the link to view it.
Whilst feeding the birds today I spotted 4 Fieldfare in one of the trees that border our garden. Fieldfare are winter visitors to Britain, from Scandinavia and start arriving here in October. These are the first I've seen this year. They tend to gather in large flocks, together with Redwing and our native thrushes. When in large groups they can be very noisy. Good, that's another new species to put on my list.
The guys from Rathbone have been back to continue the work in the garden.They have strimmed the grass, laid and edged the bark chip path and made ready the slabs for laying as the pergola floor.
I have uploaded a new set of photographs of the work done. Click here to view the latest photographs.
The past few days in the garden have been delightful. It's been sunny and warm and the birds have been taking advantage of the favourable conditions. There has been much tooing and froing of the Blue Tits, Robins and Nuthatch as they vie for a place on the bird table. The Robin guards the table from the Blue Tits but bows out when the Nuthatch arrives.
I've seen the first new bird in ages in the garden today. Whilst putting out food on the table I happened to notice movement in the yew tree in the corner. It was a Goldcrest. I had a pretty good view of it as it busily flit from branch to branch, its yellow crest on its head was very conspicuous.
Autumn is upon us but we have been fortunate in having a couple of warm and sunny days over the past week. The trees are noticeably changing colour now and there have been a few late speckled wood butterflies, wasps and honey bees seen in the garden.
I did a count on the number of species seen in the garden in the 12 months since our move from Edgbaston and the total is 97!! It really should be 97+ as there have been a few wildflowers/grasses that I have been unable to identify.
